Now available at select participating retail locations at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland resorts, these special holiday edition Disney Gift Cards featuring Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Minnie Mouse and Donald form the image of a train when placed side by side. Each gift card comes complete with a free Disney trading pin featuring its respective character.

Disney Channel has picked up Season Two of the hit comedy series “JONAS,” starring the multi-platinum recording artists Jonas Brothers plus popular actresses Chelsea Staub and Nicole Anderson. Two new and notable producers, Lester Lewis (“The Office,” “The Larry Sanders Show”) and Paul Hoen (director and co-producer of “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” DGA Award-winning director of “Jump In!,” and “The Cheetah Girls One World,” among others), have been named executive producers of the series. Season two of “JONAS” is scheduled to begin production in Hollywood in February for debut in mid-2010 on Disney Channel, DisneyChannel.com, mobile and VOD platforms. The announcement was made today by Gary Marsh, president, entertainment, Disney Channels Worldwide.

This month, while on the European leg of their hugely successful Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009 (produced by Live Nation), Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas also began production on Season Two of their popular short-form reality series, “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream,” for premiere in early 2010. It will be followed by the highly anticipated Disney Channel Original Movie “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” in summer.

Marsh said, “We couldn’t ask for a more collaborative or creative partnership than we have with the Jonas Brothers – and the success of our first season of ‘JONAS’ speaks for itself. As we build on that success in a second season, we are thrilled to add the extraordinary creative talents of Lester Lewis and Paul Hoen to the producing team.”

Regarding the appeal of a second season of “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream,” Marsh continued, “We can deliver something to our viewers that no one else can – exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the real life adventures of one of the superstar bands of our time. That’s exactly the kind of unique experience our viewers have come to expect from Disney Channel.”

As previously announced, Jennifer Hudson, the multitalented actress-singer whose accolades include an Academy Award for the movie “Dreamgirls” and a Grammy for “Best R&B Album,” heads back to her hometown of Chicago to share childhood memories of the music, people and places that set the stage for her phenomenal success in her first television special, “Jennifer Hudson: I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” MONDAY, DECEMBER 14 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Over the next few weeks, Disney Parks will deploy hand sanitizer dispensers in common locations across the resorts such as theme park turnstiles, resort lobbies and some meet & greet locations in response to concerns over the spread of germs and viruses, notably the H1N1 flu virus.

In addition, guests will continue to be able to purchase individual hand sanitizing packets at various retail locations throughout the parks and resorts.

Now through April 1, 2010, guests planning a vacation at the Disneyland Resort arriving between January 5 and April 29, 2010 can purchase a 3 Night / 5 Day package including a 5 day park hopper ticket and receive two additional nights at the hotel free. The offer can be booked from now through April 1, 2010. Subject to availability and block-out dates.

Earlier this week, we told you about the new Sailor Mickey helium balloon that will make its debut during the 83rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

Today we bring you news of the Sailor Mickey plush by Gund exclusively from Macy’s to commemorate the event. The 18″ collectible plush speaks three phrases: ‘Gosh, you’re great,’ ‘Ahoy there mateys’ and ‘Merry Christmas!’ and includes a bonus alarm clock which doubles as his own personal compass. He retails for $14.95 and can be found in the Holiday department at Macy’s all over or can be purchased online (where you can also check local store inventory).

Title:Bayou Beats(link) Publisher: Walt Disney Released: November 7, 2009 Cost: Free iTouch?: Yes Pros: Free, some replay value, music from the film Cons: Large installation due to music video Review: In promotion of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog which opens nationwide December 11 comes this free app which includes a small, quasi-addictive game along with a music video and a lot of purchase links.

The game itself is small and pretty straightforward. Using instrumental versions of one of several songs from the feature film (but sadly not Gonna Take You There) as a backdrop, the game consists of pressing one of several buttons along the bottom as they are lit up by falling crowns passing through them. The game keeps track of how many correct touches in a row you have and then rewards long streaks by increasing a score multiplier. Where it may get confusing is that it looks like you have to ‘catch’ the individual crowns, but while you do have to prevent the crown from passing through without being touched, the key is you’re touching the button while it’s lit which means a single crown can yield you 2 or 3 successful touches if done quickly enough while a few crowns in immediate succession can yield a quick finger upwards of 15 touches or so. Get too greedy by having one of your touches land when the button is no longer lit, however, and the frog croaks and the chain count is reset to zero.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s sports complex in central Florida will be renamed in February after its ESPN unit, in a move to strengthen the well-known sports brand’s ties with young athletes.

The shift — plans for which were announced about a year ago — targets the 500,000 athletes and 1.5 million spectators who annually visit the 220-acre multisport complex near Disney’s theme park in Orlando, Florida, officials said.

“ESPN is doing this because they want to get closer to the fan and in particular they want to get closer to the youth athlete,” Ken Potrock, Disney’s senior vice president of global sports, said in a telephone interview.